Dear brothers and sisters,

We are less than a month before the start of Ramadan, we need to ask ourselves: what have we done to prepare for it? Have we made up our minds about what goals are we trying to achieve in this Ramadan? Which lectures am I going to listen to? How much Qur’an are we planning to read? How should I spend on charity? How am I going to help my family?

Before we even set up our goals, it is important that we clearly understand what is the purpose of Ramadan and especially fasting in the first place. If somebody asks you: “What is the purpose of Ramadan? Why are we fasting during Ramadan?”, how would you respond?

The answer is very clear in the Qur’an, and we will hear this verse many times during the month of Ramadan:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you—as it was for those before you—so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allah˺ (obtain Taqwa). [2:183]

Fasting has a lot of benefits, but the main purose of fasting is to gain Taqwa (to be fearful of Allah) so that we would try our best to avoid any prohibition that Allah has commanded, and also try our best to obey the commandments of Allah.

The first benefit of fasting, is that it helps us shift back our focus back to Allah. While we are consciously trying not to eat or drink, it would remind us that our desires are not supposed to be the source of our actions. Whichever desire it could be: eating and drinking, gaining more money, buying things with money, or even the desire of making ourselves happy. One of the main difference between Muslims and non-Muslims is that we do not put our desires as our priorities, even in terms of making ourselves happy. People may tell you: just do whatever you want, just stay happy, just fulfill your dreams, do whatever that makes you happy. Although it sounds very motivational, but these kinds of statements in other words simply mean to ‘follow your desire’.

Allah is the One who truly decides our emotions and what makes us happy, as Allah says in the Qur’an:
وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ أَضْحَكَ وَأَبْكَىٰ
He is the One Who makes us cry and makes us laugh. [53:43]

He is the One who decides what true happiness is, and not us. Happiness and goodness are not the same thing, because happiness isn’t necessarily good for us. 

وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تَكْرَهُوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَىٰٓ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَيْـًۭٔا وَهُوَ شَرٌّۭ لَّكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you and like something which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know. [2:216]

If a child always becomes happy when he receives candies and junk food, should we actually keep on feeding the child with these food? Or should we have some sense of responsibility and try to stop the child from doing that, and give the child something healthy instead, like vegetables and fruits?

We, as adults, understand this point clearly when it comes to teaching children about happiness, but why is that when we have grown up ourselves, we think that we know clearly whether the happiness we get is good or bad for us?

Therefore when we fast, we are essentially getting rid of this part of our head that decides what to do based on what we think that can bring us material happiness, and fasting brings us back to realizing what our actions should be dedicated to, which is to Allah.

The second benefit of fasting is that it can train our patience. Patience doesn’t come automatically to every one of us, it needs to be obtained through practice and training. What patience is essentially is to delay our desire. When we are patient during fasting, we are delaying our desire to eat and drink to a later time, during Iftar. When we are patient during sadness, we are delaying our desire to express our complains and grief to a later time, to the Day of Judgement. When we know that Allah is going to give us back what we lost in this life on the Day of Judgement, then we will have hope and expectation, so that we can leave the rest to Allah. If we lost our wallet with lots of money inside, but we received a phone call from the police station saying that the wallet was found and the money is still there, then even though we don’t have the wallet with us at that moment, we can still be patient and feel at ease.

Therefore while we are fasting, it can make our faith stronger in Allah that He will restore whatever we have lost and He even promises to give us something better than what we have lost.

The third benefit of fasting is that it helps us extend our vision and perspective, so that we understand this world is not just about the physical life, but it’s something more than that. It’s not just about filling the hunger in our stomach, but also about filling the hunger in our souls.

When we are feeling the hunger due to fasting, we are able to reflect on the bigger picture of doing this action, which can help us reset our priorities in life and rearrange them more accurately. Perhaps there is a huge obstacle that was disturbing our life and causing us to be distressed, but when we are able to look at it from a broader perspective, it doesn’t seem to be that much important anymore. And fasting can help us achieve that by making us realize how invaluable this world is compared to the Hereafter.

Will all the benefits of fasting, it would be best if we can get used to it before Ramadan actually starts, so that we can perform even better during the month. As our Prophet (ﷺ) used to do, he would almost fast every single day of Sha’ban.

May Allah grant us patience and steadfastness. May Allah bless us and allow us to reach the month of Ramadan and accept our good deeds.